The importance of two-year follow-up assessments in neonatal trials: overcoming the challenges of obtaining data

Identifying developmental delay, early intellectual disability or language problems in infants born preterm may enable earlier intervention and improve outcomes for the child. Two-year follow-up assessments are important but locating and obtaining the information is rarely easy. Researchers on neonatal clinical trials find that locating follow-up information requires a degree of ingenuity. This article considers the experiences gained during conduction of a randomised controlled trial and offers tips on how to enhance the availability and quality of follow-up data.